Handheld electronic device

ABSTRACT

A handheld electronic device includes a display body, an input body and at least a track. The input body and the display body are overlapped with each other. The track is disposed between the display body and the input body, wherein the extending direction of the track is substantially neither perpendicular to nor parallel to the longitudinal direction or the traverse direction of the display body or the input body, and the track enables the display body to switch between at a first position and at a second position relative to the input body. The traverse direction of the display body is substantially parallel to the traverse direction of the input body when the input body is at the first position, and the longitudinal direction of the display body is substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the input body when the input body is at the second position.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional of and claims priority benefit of anapplication Ser. No. 11/845,791, filed on Aug. 28, 2007, now allowed,which claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no.95133171, filed on Sep. 8, 2006. The entirety of each of theabove-mentioned patent applications is hereby incorporated by referenceherein and made a part of this specification.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to a handheld electronic device,and more particular, to a handheld electronic device that can beoperated in a longitudinal direction and in a traverse direction.

2. Description of Related Art

A handheld electronic device refers to an electronic device suitable fora user to hold and operate the same, for example, a mobile phone, amultimedia player, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheldcomputer, a handheld game machine and a handheld GPS (global positioningsystem) receiver etc. The electronic device of the sort usually has asmall volume, light, and portable for a user to carry it. Taking themobile phone as an example, an early mobile phone has a bar-styledesign. However, later, in order to promote the portability whilekeeping the areas of the screen and the keyboard thereof unchanged, aflip-style (clamshell-style) mobile phone and a slide-style mobile phonewere developed.

A flip-style mobile phone usually includes two bodies which are linkedtogether by using a hinge mechanism to make two side edges thereofpivoted thereon, while the main screen and the keyboard thereof arerespectively disposed on each of the inner side of the two bodies. Inthis way, the two bodies of the flip-style mobile phone can be foldedduring carriage, and unfolded during operation. A slide-style mobilephone has two bodies as well, but the two bodies thereof are linkedtogether by using a sliding mechanism, and the screen and the keyboardthereof are respectively disposed on the outer side of the upper layerbody and the inner side of the lower layer body thereof. Similarly, thetwo bodies of the slide-style mobile phone can be overlapped with oneanother during carriage, and slid by one another during operation aswell.

Compared to the flip-style mobile phone where the main screen isdisposed on the inner side of the bottom one of the two bodies, the mainscreen of the slide-style mobile phone is disposed on the outer side ofthe bottom one of the two bodies thereof. Therefore, regardless of astanding-by mode or an operating mode, the screen of a slide-stylemobile phone remains exposed on the outer side thereof. Along with theprogressive advancement of the technology and usage, a mobile phone withmultiple operation modes is being continuously developed to attractcustomers and provide additional versatility to the customers.

In order to make the relative position of the two bodies of a mobilephone switched between two different placements, a conventional mobilephone with multiple operation modes is equipped with two orthogonalsliding tracks between the two bodies thereof, so that the mobile phonehas a phone operation mode after a relative sliding motion in thelongitudinal direction thereof between the two bodies or a typingoperation mode after a relative sliding motion in the traverse directionthereof between the two bodies. However, the sliding motion of such amobile phone is not smooth and the appearance of the mobile phone is notnovel or attractive.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An aspect of the present invention is to provide a handheld electronicdevice with multiple operation modes for different applications.

To achieve the above-mentioned or other aspects, the present inventionprovides a handheld electronic device. The handheld electronic deviceincludes a display body, an input body and at least a track. The inputbody and the display body are overlapped with each other. The track isdisposed between the display body and the input body, wherein theextending direction of the track is substantially neither perpendicularto nor parallel to the longitudinal direction or the traverse directionof the display body or the input body, but the track enables the displaybody to be switched between at a first position and at a second positionrelative to the input body. At the first position, the traversedirection of the display body is substantially parallel to the traversedirection of the input body, while at the second position, thelongitudinal direction of the display body is substantially parallel tothe longitudinal direction of the input body.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned displaybody completely overlays the input body when the display body is locatedat the first position, while at least a portion of the display bodyoverlaps the input body when the display body is located at the secondposition.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the length of theabove-mentioned display body is less than the length of the input body.

In an embodiment of the present invention, during a translational motionof the above-mentioned display body relative to the input body, thetrack makes the longitudinal direction of the display body substantiallyparallel to the longitudinal direction of the input body.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned handheldelectronic device further includes at least a guiding block disposedbetween the input body and the display body, so that the relativemovement of the guiding block along the track causes a translationalmotion of the display body relative to the input body.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned handheldelectronic device further includes an image output interface disposed onthe display body.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the translational motion ofthe above-mentioned display body relative to the input body along thetrack is able to provide an operation mode switch between a firstoperation mode and a second operation mode, wherein the first operationmode makes the image output interface work in a portrait display mode,while the second operation mode makes the image output interface work ina landscape display mode.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned inputbody has a first area and a second area locally overlapped with thefirst area, and the first area is exposed when the display body is atthe first position.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned handheldelectronic device further includes a press input interface disposed onthe input body.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned pressinput interface includes a dialing keypad and a standard keypad, thedialing keypad is disposed at the first area, the standard keypad isdisposed at the second area and some keys of the standard keypad andsome keys of the dialing keypad are shared by each other.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned pressinput interface is at least one selected from the group consisting of astandard keyboard, a video play key, numeric keys, dialing keys,navigation keys, hot keys, speed dialing keys, a Windows key and anending key.

To achieve the above-mentioned or other aspects, the present inventionprovides a handheld electronic device, which includes a display body, aninput body and at least a track. The display body has a portrait displaymode and a landscape display mode. The input body and the display bodyare overlapped with each other. The track is disposed between thedisplay body and the input body and is substantially disposed obliquelyto the longitudinal direction and the traverse direction of the displaybody or the input body, so that the input body can be operated inassociation with the display body either in the landscape display modeor in the portrait display mode.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned trackenables the display body to be switched between at a first position andat a second position relative to the input body. At the first position,the traverse direction of the display body is substantially parallel tothe traverse direction of the input body, while at the second position,the longitudinal direction of the display body is substantially parallelto the longitudinal direction of the input body.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned displaybody completely overlays the input body when the display body is locatedat the first position, while at least a portion of the display bodyoverlaps the input body when the display body is located at the secondposition.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the length of theabove-mentioned display body is less than the length of the input body.

In an embodiment of the present invention, during a translational motionof the above-mentioned display body relative to the input body, thetrack makes the longitudinal direction of the display body substantiallyparallel to the longitudinal direction of the input body.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned handheldelectronic device further includes at least a guiding block fixedbetween the input body and the display body, so that the movement of theguiding block along the track causes a translational motion of thedisplay body relative to the input body.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned handheldelectronic device further includes an image output interface disposed onthe display body.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the translational motion ofthe above-mentioned display body relative to the input body along thetrack is able to provide an operation mode switch between a firstoperation mode and a second operation mode, wherein the first operationmode makes the image output interface work in portrait display mode,while the second operation mode makes the image output interface work inlandscape display mode.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned inputbody has a first area and a second area overlapped with each other, andthe first area is exposed when the display body is at the firstposition.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned handheldelectronic device further includes a press input interface disposed onthe input body.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned pressinput interface includes a dialing keypad and a standard keypad, thedialing keypad is disposed at the first area, the standard keypad isdisposed at the second area and some keys of the standard keypad andsome keys of the dialing keypad are shared by each other.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned pressinput interface is at least one selected from the group consisting of astandard keyboard, a video play key, numeric keys, dialing keys,navigation keys, hot keys, speed dialing keys, a Windows key and anending key.

The present invention uses an obliquely-disposed track to make thedisplay body have at least two different positions relative to the inputbody and the two positions are respectively corresponding to anoperation mode.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification. The drawings illustrate embodiments of theinvention and, together with the description, serve to explain theprinciples of the invention.

FIG. 1A is a top view of a handheld electronic device with a displaybody at a first position in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1B is a top view of the handheld electronic device of FIG. 1A withthe display body at a second position.

FIGS. 2A-2C are diagrams showing the sliding action of the display bodyin FIG. 1A manually operated by a user from the first position to thesecond position.

FIG. 3A is a diagram showing the handheld electronic device in FIG. 1Ain the first operation mode.

FIG. 3B is a diagram showing the handheld electronic device in FIG. 1Ain the second operation mode.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the present preferredembodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers areused in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or likeparts.

FIG. 1A is a top view of a handheld electronic device with a displaybody at a first position in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG.1B is a top view of the handheld electronic device of FIG. 1A with thedisplay body at a second position. Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, thehandheld electronic device 100 of the embodiment is, for example, amobile phone, a multimedia player, a PDA, a palmtop computer, a palmtopgame machine and a handheld GPS receiver etc.

The handheld electronic device 100 includes a display body 110, an inputbody 120 and a track 130. The display body 110 has a portrait displaymode and a landscape display mode, while the input body 120 and thedisplay body 110 are overlapped with each other. The track 130 isdisposed between the display body 110 and the input body 120 and issubstantially neither perpendicular to nor parallel to the longitudinaldirections L₁ and L₂ and the traverse directions T₁ and T₂ both of thedisplay body 110 and the input body 120. In other words, the track 130is substantially disposed obliquely to the longitudinal directions andthe traverse directions relative to both display body 110 and input body120. In other embodiments, the handheld electronic device may havemultiple tracks, however the present invention does not limit to anynumber of the tracks as such.

The track 130 enables the display body 110 to switch between at a firstposition and at a second position relative to the input body 120. At thefirst position, the traverse direction T₁ of the display body 110 issubstantially parallel to the traverse direction T₂ of the input body120, while at the second position, the longitudinal direction L₁ of thedisplay body 110 is substantially parallel to the longitudinal directionL₂ of the input body 120.

In the embodiment, the projection of the geometric center C₁ of thedisplay body 110 at the above-mentioned first position on the input body120 is located on a side of the geometric center C₂ of the input body120 along the longitudinal direction L₂ of the input body 120, as shownin FIG. 1A; the projection of the geometric center C₁ of the displaybody 110 at the second position on the input body 120 is located on aside of the geometric center C₂ of the input body 120 along the traversedirection T₂ of the input body 120, as shown in FIG. 1B.

FIGS. 2A-2C are diagrams showing the sliding action of the display bodyin FIG. 1A manually operated by a user from the first position to thesecond position. Referring to FIGS. 2A-2C, when the display body 110 isat the first position (as shown by FIG. 2A), a user can obliquely pushthe display body 110 (as shown by FIG. 2B) to move the display body 110to the second position (as shown by FIG. 2C).

The handheld electronic device 100 further includes a guiding block 140which is fixed at the input body 120 and suitable for being moved alongthe track 130. When the guiding block 140 is engaged with the track 130,the movement of the guiding block 140 along the track 130 makes themovement of the display body 110 relative to the input body 120.However, the present invention does not limit to any particular numberof the guiding blocks as such as long as the guiding block(s) can beengaged with the track so as to facilitate the movement of the displaybody 110 to the input body 120.

FIG. 3A is a diagram showing the handheld electronic device in FIG. 1Ain the first operation mode and FIG. 3B is a diagram showing thehandheld electronic device in FIG. 1A in the second operation mode.Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, at the first position, the display body110 provides a portrait display mode and the handheld electronic device100 at the point in the first operation mode as shown by FIG. 3A; at thesecond position, the display body 110 provides a landscape display modeand the handheld electronic device 100 at the point in the secondoperation mode as shown by FIG. 3B. In this way, the single input body120 can be operated in the portrait display mode or the landscapedisplay mode. Normally, the first operation mode is suitable for mobilephone, while the second operation mode is suitable for videoentertainment or PDA etc., however, the present invention does not limitthereto as such.

When the above-mentioned display body 110 is at the second position,with reference to the plane P formed by the connecting line I betweenthe geometric center C₁ of the display body 110 and the geometric centerC₂ of the input body 120 and the projection line of the connecting lineI on the input body 120, the two geometric shapes of both sides of thedisplay body 110 and the two geometric shapes of both sides of the inputbody 120 are substantially the same, respectively. In more detail, whenthe display body 110 is at the second position, the handheld electronicdevice 100 is in the second operation mode; at this point, when a useris holding the input body 120 or looking at the display body 110, thehandheld electronic device 100 appears in left-right symmetry.

Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B again, the display body 110 at the firstposition completely overlays a local part of the input body 120, whilethe display body 110 at the second position only partially overlaps alocal part of the input body 120, i.e. the display body 110 at the pointis overlapped with the input body 120. In more detail, the input body120 has a first area 120 a and a second area 120 b overlapped with thefirst area 120 a. The display body 110 at the first position exposes thefirst area 120 a as shown by FIG. 1A; the display body 110 at the secondposition exposes the whole second area 120 b and covers a local part ofthe first area 120 a as shown by FIG. 1B.

In the embodiment, the length l₁ of the display body 110 may be lessthan the length l₂ of the input body 120, while the width w₁ of thedisplay body 110 is substantially equal to the width w₂ of the inputbody 120. Besides, during a translational motion of the above-mentioneddisplay body 110 relative to the input body 120, the track 130 enablesthe longitudinal direction L₁ of the display body 110 substantiallyparallel to the longitudinal direction L₂ of the input body 120. Thoseskilled in the art may be able to deduce similar designs to achieve thepurpose of the present invention, which is construed to be within thescope of the present invention.

In order to output images for a user to view, the handheld electronicdevice 100 further includes an image output interface 150, for example,a display, disposed on the display body 110. Therefore, when the displaybody 110 is at the first position and the handheld electronic device 100is in the first operation mode as shown by FIG. 3A, the first operationmode makes the image output interface 150 to operate in the portraitdisplay mode, where the information content output from the image outputinterface 150 is disposed in longitudinal direction associated with theviewing direction of the user. Besides, when the display body 110 is atthe second position and the handheld electronic device 100 is in thesecond operation mode as shown by FIG. 3B, the second operation modemakes the image output interface 150 operate in the landscape displaymode, where the information content output from the image outputinterface 150 is disposed in traverse direction associating with theviewing direction of the user.

To input commands or texts, the handheld electronic device 100 furtherincludes a press input interface 160, for example, a keypad, disposed onthe input body 120. The press input interface 160 includes a dialingkeypad 160 a and a standard keypad 160 b. Herein the dialing keypad 160a is disposed at the first area 120 a, while the standard keypad 160 bis disposed at the second area 120 b, and some keys of the dialingkeypad 160 a and some keys of the standard keypad 160 b are shared byeach other.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned press input interface 160 isat least one selected from the group consisting of a standard keyboard,a video play key, numeric keys, dialling keys, navigation keys, hotkeys, speed dialling keys, a Windows key and an ending key. By using thepress input interface 160, the user is able to operate the handheldelectronic device 100.

The present invention uses an obliquely disposed track for the displaybody to have at least two different positions relative to the inputbody. Thus, the handheld electronic device can take advantage of thedifferent positions of the display body and the associated softwarefunctions to enable the handheld electronic device to run in differentoperation modes, for example, phone calling, audio/video or PDA etc.,which enhances the convenience and pleasure of the user during operatingthe handheld electronic device.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made to the structure of the presentinvention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention.In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present inventioncover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fallwithin the scope of the following claims and their equivalents.

1. A handheld electronic device, comprising: a display body; an inputbody, overlapped with the display body; and at least a track, disposedbetween the display body and the input body, wherein an extendingdirection of the track is substantially neither parallel norperpendicular to the longitudinal direction or the traverse direction ofthe display body or the input body, wherein the track enables thedisplay body to be switched between at a first position and at a secondposition relative to the input body, and wherein the traverse directionof the display body is substantially parallel to the traverse directionof the input body when the display body is at the first position and thelongitudinal direction of the display body is substantially parallel tothe longitudinal direction of the input body when the display body is atthe second position.
 2. The handheld electronic device according toclaim 1, wherein the display body completely overlays the input bodywhen the display body is at the first position, and at least a part ofthe display body overlaps the input body when the display body is at thesecond position.
 3. The handheld electronic device according to claim 1,wherein a length of the display body is less than a length of the inputbody.
 4. The handheld electronic device according to claim 1, whereinduring a translational motion of the display body relative to the inputbody, the track makes the longitudinal direction of the display bodysubstantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the input body.5. The handheld electronic device according to claim 1, furthercomprising at least a guiding block disposed between the input body anddisplay body so that a relative movement of the guiding block along thetrack causes a translational motion of the display body relative to theinput body.
 6. The handheld electronic device according to claim 1,further comprising an image output interface disposed on the displaybody.
 7. The handheld electronic device according to claim 6, whereinthe translational motion of the display body relative to the input bodyalong the track provides an operation mode switch between a firstoperation mode and a second operation mode, and wherein the firstoperation mode allows the image output interface to operate in aportrait display mode, while the second operation mode allows the imageoutput interface to operate in a landscape display mode.
 8. The handheldelectronic device according to claim 1, wherein the input body has afirst area and a second area locally overlapped with the first area, andthe first area is exposed when the display body is at the firstposition.
 9. The handheld electronic device according to claim 8,further comprising a press input interface disposed on the input body.10. The handheld electronic device according to claim 9, wherein thepress input interface includes a dialing keypad and a standard keypad,the dialing keypad is disposed at the first area, the standard keypad isdisposed at the second area and some keys of the standard keypad andsome keys of the dialing keypad are shared by each other.
 11. Thehandheld electronic device according to claim 9, wherein the press inputinterface is at least one selected from the group consisting of astandard keyboard, a video play key, numeric keys, dialing keys,navigation keys, hot keys, speed dialing keys, a Windows key and anending key.